Silvertongue
by thedarkpoet
Summary: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.    Previously LOKI.
1. Chapter 1

_ Asgard. The realm eternal._

_ It was early morning, or near enough on when Heimdall informed the guards that the king's young son, Thor, was not still slumbering in his bedchamber._

_ Since it was incredibly rare for the Gatekeeper to involve himself in the affairs of the All-father's household, his warning caused immediate uproar. All but Odin himself, who had departed to visit the Nine Realms, were involved in the search. Every room in the palace was searched thoroughly, but the little prince was no where to be found. Eventually, the guards ventured out into the streets, combing the alleyways to find the king's beloved son. But it seemed as if he had vanished._

_ It was when the guards had given up all hope that a servant noticed that the king's other son, Loki, was also missing from his room. It was with fear in his heart that Tyr reported this new development to his queen, and she reacted with a fury that shocked all who knew her. In desperation, Tyr sent to a messenger to Heimdall to ask him to impart the whereabouts of the boys, but Heimdall replied and told him that no such knowledge was necessary. Tyr left the palace to speak with Heimdall and as he left, he saw a boy hanging from the edge of Bifrost, the rainbow bridge. He used his remaining hand to pull the boy to safety, and frowned upon the other children on bridge. There were five, and among them were the two princes._

_ The golden-haired boy hugged his friend and looked up at Tyr with an expression of profound innocence and spoke._

_ "It was Loki's idea."_

_ His friends, three sons of the noble houses, looked at the crown prince of Asgard and nodded in agreement, and there was no evidence to prove that Odin's more reckless son had suggested jumping from the bridge. Thor was granted a clean slate._

_ The word of the adventure of the two princes spread across the eternal realm like wildfire, and when Odin returned to the Bifrost, his wife greeted him with the news. In the minds of Asgardians, Odin's successors were already competing._

_ Odin was angry when he heard the story of what his sons had done, but he did not speak to them of the incident. Instead, he chose to watch and wait._

_ Ten years later, when his sons were not yet men, Odin took them to the gate of the Bifrost. He showed them how the sword of Heimdall or the staff of the king could extend the rainbow bridge to reach between the Nine Realms. Both boys were eager to use the gate, but Odin warned them against the folly of using it without guidance._

_ But the seeds of curiosity were planted, and Thor, Odin's elder son, was no longer satisfied with the amusements of Asgard._

That night, Thor snuck into his father's chambers and took up his staff. Then, he went to the weapons vault to procure himself a sword. Yet each blade he chose seemed dull, rusted or warped. He cast each aside in disgust and made such an unholy racket that he was fortunate his father did not awaken where he slept. After searching for the better part of an hour, Thor left the vault and roamed the castle to find a weapon. On his search, he came across a massive set of closed doors. He pushed them open and ran down the staircase beyond. At the foot of the stairs, he found the weapon he had been looking for – it was Mjolnir, the mighty hammer.

Satisfied at last, Thor ran to wake his brother.

Loki regretted waking up almost immediately.

"And what sort of insanity do you plan to succumb to today, brother?"

In the yellow light of the lamp, Thor's teeth gleamed in a frightening manner.

"Bifrost. We will show father how simple it is to travel between the realms."

"I don't want to be part of your 'we', Thor. There is also the fact that Heimdall will never let us pass."

"That's why I need you and your silver tongue, brother. You will convince him to let us use the Bifrost."

"Heimdall sees and hears all. He will not be convinced by two mere boys."

"I carry the staff of the king," Thor said, drawing himself up arrogantly. "He will obey me."

Loki sighed.

"I will come, if only because I can see that you will not be swayed from this idiocy."

"Fetch the others," Thor commanded. "I will meet you at the rainbow bridge."

Loki went reluctantly and woke their friends; Hogin, Volstagg, Fandral, and lastly Sif. When they heard of Thor's plan, they followed Loki eagerly until they caught up with Thor at the gate.

Thor was almost giddy with excitement.

"Heimdall will allow us to pass," he said delightedly.

"Only because you bear the staff of the king," Heimdall reminded him. "I am sworn to obey the commands of all those who wield that sign of office."

"What ever the reason," Thor added, "we are going to visit one of the nine realms, my friends. Which one shall we honour today?"

"Alfheimr," suggested Fandral.

"Why not gaze upon the fires of Muspellsheimr?" Hogin asked.

"I would like to visit Manheimr," Sif said resolutely, "And see these men that our forefathers saved from the monsters of Jotunheimr."

"Manheimr it is," Thor declared. He strode forward and used Odin's staff to activate the gate. His friends looked on in wonder as great bolts of lightening gathered at the staff. The Bifrost appeared, stretching out into black space. One by one, the two princes and their friends were sucked across the bridge and deposited in Manheimr.

The place in which they landed was cold and dark. Huge rolling slopes stretched away under the dim light of the stars, and in the valley just before the first of these was a small village. A river split the village, and the Asgardians followed the river down into the village. In the east, the sun was just appearing over the horizon and it lit the thatched roofs of the mud-brick houses with a rosy light. People began to emerge from their homes, and one woman caught site of the Asgardians.

Her scream was piercing, and the men of the village scrambled for their shoddy weapons.

A wolfish grin appeared on Thor's face and he brought forward Mjolnir. The others also drew their weapons, but Loki laid a hand on his brother's arm to stop him from swinging his hammer.

"These are not enemies," he whispered to Thor. "They could not harm us if they tried. We should greet them in peace."

But it was too late to stop Thor – one of the villagers swung his cudgel and Thor brought Mjolnir through the air towards the man's head. In the instant the hammer struck, a bolt of lightening shot down from the heavens and the unfortunate villager was blackened to a crisp.

The other men dropped their weapons in terror. They ran for their dwellings, but for one elderly man, who approached Thor with an expression of awe.

"Are you Odin?" the old man asked in a quavering voice. "My father told me the stories…"

"I am Thor, Odin's son," Thor replied. "Kneel before me!"

The man collapsed to his knees in the mud.

"Tell your people that I am a god to be feared," Thor continued, "and I shall leave your village untouched."

The old man nodded vigorously, his beard dragging through the dirt. Content with his new godhood, Thor turned and led his companions away from the village. At his command, Heimdall opened the Bifrost, and they returned to Asgard.

There, Odin the All-father was waiting.

"You are fortunate indeed that Heimdall was here to bring you back to your own time," he began. "The Bifrost does not just traverse space, but time as well. You might well have been lost in the mists before the world began."

He frowned at his two sons. They both gazed at the floor, ashamed of their actions. Their four friends left the king's presence nervously.

"Tell me, who was it who took my staff? I need hardly ask about Mjolnir, for I see that Thor has taken it upon himself to wield it."

"I enlisted Loki's aid to take your staff, father," Thor said. Loki looked up in surprise but Odin's face was skeptical.

"Yours is not a liar's face, Thor," he said gently. "Heimdall has already informed me of what took place tonight. I suppose it was a stoke of luck that you chose Manheimr and no serious damage was done. But Thor, you and I must speak about what you did, and you must return Mjolnir to its rightful place. You are young yet, but you must understand the consequences of your actions."

Loki decided not mention the fatal lightening bolt. Though their father's voice was calm, his face was very angry indeed.

Thor and the king left together, and Loki trailed behind. Sif, Fandral, Hogin and Volstagg were waiting just outside the gate, and they spoke to Loki immediately.

"Why didn't you lie?" Sif demanded. "Did you _want_ Thor to get in trouble?"

"You'd never stick your neck out for him," Volstagg said disgustedly. "Not if it meant any risk for you."

"Heimdall saw-" Loki began to explain, but Sif cut him off.

"Don't try to fool me with your pretty lies," she said. "You're just jealous of Thor."

She stamped off, and the other three followed her, casting disparaging looks back at Loki.

He stood alone on the rainbow bridge for a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

_ And so it came to pass that Thor first set foot in the realm of man. Many times he tried to steal back to the gate between worlds, but Heimdall would let neither the princes nor their friends so much as set foot in the Bifrost chamber. His orders had come from the All-father himself, and he would not be swayed or coerced into leaving his post._

_ So the young Thor strove to find his amusements elsewhere._

"On guard!" Fandral cried, using both hands to hold his wavering sword point at the level of Thor's chest.

"If I had Mjolnir-" Thor began pompously.

"You do not have it," Hogin said flatly. "Perhaps you should concern yourself more with what is happening now. Fandral is about to impale you."

Sif stode to the centre of the training room and knocked Fandral's blade aside contemptuously.

"Fight _me_, Thor," she said.

"You?" Thor asked incredulously. "I couldn't fight you, Sif."

"Why not?" Sif's voice was dangerous, but Thor blundered forward.

"You're a girl," he said with the air of one explaining something very simple. "I couldn't fight a girl."

"Why. Not?" Sif repeated.

"Well, I would beat you in an instant," Thor continued. "It wouldn't be a fair fight."

"Since Thor is too good a fighter for me to compete with, who will fight me then?" Sif asked sweetly.

Fandral, who was still struggling to drag his broadsword to the wall, shook his head violently. Volstagg folded his arms silently. Sif turned to Hogin, who smiled.

"I am not so foolish as to fight a girl on her own terms," he said.

"You should fight her, Thor," Volstagg said. "She won't let it rest until you do."

"Very well," Thor replied, making a show of laying down his sword. "What weapons would you choose, Sif? I will best you with any of them."

She grinned evilly and grabbed two pikestaffs from where they stood by the wall. One she tossed to Thor, the other she spun on her hand. Thor returned her grin with a confident smile of his own and readied his pikestaff to strike at her.

Before he could even move, Sif had knocked the pikestaff out of his hands, her expression sweetly innocent. Thor scowled briefly, but his confidence soon returned and he blocked her next attack, then hooked her pikestaff out of her grasp. Sif caught it up again and the jabbed at Thor's neck.

Too late, Thor realized that she was too angry to check her blow. Sif was a poor loser, and now the pointed tip of her pikestaff was coming towards his chin at an alarming speed.

Suddenly, there was a blast of light and a hollow boom, and Sif flew backwards. Volstagg and Fandral, remembering Mjolnir, looked at Thor, but he was just a confused as they.

It was Loki who stood in the doorway, trembling and pale-faced, with his arms extended towards where Thor and Sif had been fighting.

Sif leapt to her feet, bruised and angry.

"Sif," Loki said. "I didn't mean to-"

He stopped as Sif leveled her pikestaff at his forehead.

"Idiot!" she cried. "I never would have hurt him!"

"We should leave," Fandral said. "The whole palace would have heard that noise."

Indeed, they could hear pounding footsteps overhead, coming closer and closer. Thor, overcoming his shock, came to stand beside Sif.

"What was that?" he asked his brother. "How did you do it?"

There was a curious sort of envy in Thor's voice, but the guards appeared before Loki could respond. They both had resigned expressions, as if any trouble in the palace would inevitably involve the two princes. Thor and Loki were escorted to their father without ceremony.

Thor explained his part with only minor embellishments and was dismissed, leaving Odin and Loki alone.

Odin looked at his younger son sternly.

"My son, it is clear that you have some sort of gift."

"Yes father," Loki replied.

"Some might even call it magic. It is not magic, but rather an illusion. Trickery."

"But-"

Odin raised a hand to silence his son.

"I will see to it that you never need develop these abilities of yours. You will begin to train with your brother."

"Father-"

"That will be all, Loki," Odin said firmly.

That night, when the evening meal was finished, Odin sat with his sons and told them a story of Jotunheimr.

_Once, before the Frost Giants of Jotunheimr had even heard of Manheimr, they sought to understand the secret of the Bifrost._

_ The Frost Giants are not gifted with science, and could not begin to understand what the Asgardians tried to explain to them. Again and again, they demanded that the Asgardians show them how the Bifrost worked, but the Asgardians were unable to comply. _

_ The Frost Giants grew frustrated._

_ Eventually, the time came for the All-father, who was then called Ull, to meet with a leader from each of the Nine Realms. Ull left Asgard and travelled to Manheimr, which was then known as Midgard._

_ While Ull was gone, Gymir, king of the Frost Giants, requested permission to come to Asgard to examine the Bifrost, but Heimdall would not let him enter the gate. Gymir became angry with the people of Asgard and his rage festered until Ull came to visit with him._

_ When Ull arrived on Jotunheimr, Gymir was waiting. Gymir had fashioned a blade of ice and with it he pierced Ull's heart. As Ull's body fell, it vanished, leaving behind a shard of ice like crystal. Gymir took the ice and stowed it away in a casket, thus hiding the evidence of his crime._

_ In Asgard, Huginn, the thoughtful son of Ull, took the throne and demanded that Gymir return his father's body. Gymir replied by gathering up and army and shattering the shard of ice that still lay in its casket._

_ When the ice shattered, it released a cold blue light that lit the casket like fire. Gymir discovered that as soon as he had held the casket, he had the power to create ice from his merest thought. He passed the casket to his entire army, giving them all the power of the ice, which they kept through their children and through their entire line. The casket itself granted the bearer the power to send the ice wherever he chose, and with this mighty weapon Gymir marched on the armies of Huginn on Jotunheimr._

_ Though Gymir had the advantage of numbers, Huginn and the Asgardians beat them back again and again. Finally, Gymir discovered that his casket could bridge the gap between the worlds, and he brought his armies to Asgard. It was a massacre._

_ Eventually, Huginn was able to use his staff to beat the Frost Giants back to Jotunheimr, but it was at the cost of many Asgardian lives. For a time, there was an uneasy peace._

_ Such was the first battle between Asgard and Jotunheimr._


End file.
